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发帖数: 14386 | 1 During his brief but wondrous stretch of national superstardom, Jeremy Lin h
as given us only glimpses of himself, through his on-court conduct and humbl
e postgame comments. Naturally, we want to know more. Hurried by the potenti
ally short-lived apex of Linsanity, GQ contacted old friends, guys he'd stud
ied, played, and lived with, to get the truth about the 23-year-old Harvard
grad-turned-Knicks savior during his formative years. The result? Jeremy Lin
is, by most accounts, a spotless athlete with a compelling story, a consist
ent winning record, and a deep commitment to the Christian faith. Kind of re
minds you of someone, doesn't it?
For such an underestimated athlete—Lin famously mailed highlight DVDs of hi
mself to college coaches and still failed to acquire an athletic scholarship
to play basketball—it isn't surprising that things weren't any easier for
Lin upon his arrival at Harvard in 2006 from California's Palo Alto High Sch
ool. Patrick Magnarelli, a college teammate of Lin's, recalls the difficulty
that freshman class had adjusting to life in the college ranks. "We all tho
ught we were going to come in there and be the Fab Five," Magnarelli says. B
ut between upperclassman incumbency and adapting to the college game, Lin pl
ayed a paltry 18 minutes a game (still more than any other freshman) despite
a physique that was a far cry from his current 6'3 and 200 lbs. frame.
"He was by far the weakest person on the team," says Alek Blankenau, a fello
w freshman recruit who, like Lin, experienced bouts of discouragement and ho
mesickness that first year. It wasn't until their sophomore season, when Lin
was named a starter by new head coach Tommy Amaker, that Harvard basketball
began their slow crawl into the spotlight.
So what were those years like in the run-up to Harvard's tournament-qualifyi
ng run in 2009-10? One can imagine any number of juicy subplots. After all,
isn't it pretty much the job of talented young athletes to behave recklessly
, aggravate local police, and disgrace the NCAA? Asked about the innocuous n
ature of this portrait of Lin, Blankenau was at a loss for dirt to dish: "I
hate to say it, but he's kind of a wholesome guy."
Some facts about the Real J. Lin:
He is the consummate teammate, and then some. Magnarelli was often inju
red, missing their entire junior season with an ailing knee. "[Jeremy] went
and asked the team nutritionist what foods I should be eating, to recover be
tter," he says.
Lin is indeed a devout Christian—he held a regular Bible study group i
n the dorms he shared with Magnarelli, Blankenau, and others—but is more op
en-armed inclusionary rather than evangelical browbeater, the type who invit
es you to church, and, should you not be interested, shrugs it off with a sm
iling "No sweat, dude."
He is, of all things, deathly afraid of needles. "We had to get flu sho
ts," remembers Blankenau, "and he was like, 'I can't do this.' I had to conv
ince him not to duck out a side door. That's the most uncollected I've ever
seen him."
Lin had a similarly devout girlfriend in college, and they parted on am
icable terms. "Jeremy forgot to make reservations on Valentine's Day once, a
nd had to save the day with some homemade chicken parm," says Blankenau.
Eric Lee, a fellow economics major who lived with Lin, could have promised a
different perspective, to no avail. Asked to identify Lin's demons, or so m
uch as a class in which he struggled, Lee instead told of a time at an In-N-
Out Burger in San Francisco, while he was a member of the Golden State Warri
ors. "We walk past this homeless guy, and I would've just ignored him," Lee
says. "But [Jeremy] goes up to him and asks, 'Hey man, what do you want?' An
d he gets him a double-double and an order of fries."
What about his party habits? "He'd always manage to surprise me on my birthd
ay," Lee says. "Every year, he'd just always find a way." Then, when pressed
about whether Lin has ever had a drink, Lee gave a reluctant admission: "I
mean...to say he never has would be...lying."
Breakthrough!
Until: "Honestly...I hate to say it, but he's a lot like Tim Tebow," Lee con
cluded.
The comparison between two Christian athletes overcoming setbacks and defyin
g critics has been made often, and isn't at all cursory. In December, when L
in was riding the pine for the Knicks while surfing his brother's couch, an
old friend tried to make the connection real. Cheng Ho, a former running bac
k for Harvard's football team and member of Lin's bible study group, now wor
king to promote the NFL's overseas efforts in China, tried to pull some stri
ngs to introduce Lin to the Broncos QB. The fateful meeting never panned out
, but Ho was forthcoming about the racial stereotyping he and Lin faced: "I'
m fortunate that I wear a helmet, so people don't see me." Ho and Lin often
discussed resisting the pitfalls of higher education. "With college life bei
ng about drinking and talking to girls, we talked a lot about controlling ou
r temptations, how to be godly, and what to do not to fall into that vicious
cycle."
Tim Tebow was a high-school All-American and top college recruit, then a Hei
sman winner, national champion, and thanks to the inscrutable mind of then-c
oach Josh McDaniels, a first-round NFL draft pick. Even if the Broncos hadn'
t pulled the trigger on Tebow several rounds too early, he might still have
gotten his shot at NFL quarterbacking. Lin has had to fight tooth-and-nail t
o gain entry to the next level—and, arguably, has played better and needed
considerably less luck to win at it. What's more, Lin has the opportunity to
be a socio-cultural phenomenon in ways Tebow cannot.
Lakers guard Derek Fisher, after being demolished in last week's Knicks-Lake
rs game, said Lin is "carrying the hopes of an entire continent." That might
overestimate the power of a Taiwanese kid from Palo Alto, but there is a re
ason thousands turned out to see him play in his rookie season with the Gold
en State Warriors before he'd ever scored a point. It's the same reason my m
other e-mails me articles about Lin when she doesn't know what the "Knicks"
are. As Ho says, "Basketball has always been a platform for him to find comf
ort and confidence, to be a good example and make a difference." But can it
last? And can Lin really be this squeaky-clean? Nobody knows, but at this mo
ment, he's already done more than enough to make a difference for Ho and cou
ntless others. "People have their own biases and expectations, and he's just
shattering them right now," he says. "Shattering them. And I'm loving it. I
'm absolutely loving it."
Additional reporting by Nan Ni.
Read More http://www.gq.com/sports/profiles/201202/jeremy-lin-harvard-basket
ball-new-york-knicks#ixzz1mIv9SgTr | w*****e
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发帖数: 9501 | 4 Lin had a similarly devout girlfriend in college, and they parted on
amicable terms. "Jeremy forgot to make reservations on Valentine's Day once,
and had to save the day with some homemade chicken parm," says Blankenau.
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